Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1887-07-16
RUSSIAN FIRE FOUNTAINS.

And what it ts worth perhaps wen know,
After q little while.
RUSSIAN FIRE FOUNTAINS.
The great town. of Baku has now q
ceast-line Of about 6 miles, sweeping
round well-protected harbor crowded
with shipping ships Of all tonnage, all
fitted with tanks to store the oil that
pours from ahundred fountains. From
time immemorial this spot has been
deemed sacred by the Ghebres of Persia,
who recognise in the flame Of the
native naphtha sacred fire SYM
Dol. Here for at least 1000 years
the sacred earth-fed flame has burned
INCREASINGLY and thetemple of Surukhani
has been a center Of reyerent pilgrim
age. This native naphtha flows from
the soil in 80 pure q form as to burn
without rectifcation, and is indeed SO
infiammable that the naphtha gas oc-
casionally lgnites spontaneously and
plays in pale flames above assures in
the rocks. On stormy nights these
flames have been seen to blaze up with
an awful spirit light. which, in the eyes
Of the Ghebres, invested the spot with
special sanctity-a sanctity intensified
by the fact that here, according to
Arabian chroniolers, a great volcanic
mountain was In full action till 800
years ago. Since then the thermal
forces have expended their energies In
spouting oil and Herewith saturating
the desert plain of the Apsheron PEN
insula; and truly more repulsive
site for great city could not well be
found.
1t is plain about fifteen miles in
width and projecting thirty miles into
the Caspian from the point where the
Caucasus terminates on its shores. The
whole surface Of the ground is black
With waste petroleum which in cold
weather haIdens to the consistency Of
asphalt, where beneath the blazing
midsummer sun the foot sinks in to the
depth of three inches. Every breath Of
wind raises binding clouds of black
bituminous dust, formed by tho coarse
black naptha with which the streets are
practically s'watered'- water be-
ing too precious to be thus wasted.
This dust, combined with the dense
smoke poured from the chimneys Of
somewhere about 800 refining factories,
does nothing to improve the atmos-
phere. And here, day aad night, the
oil fountains pour forth their hideous
black streams. They yield an average
of from rs to 50 per cent Of pure oil,
and from 20 to 80 per cent of refuse,
which makes excellent fuel for the
great fleets of oil steamers and To-
comctives. The supply may we'll be
deemed inexhaustible, inasmuch as l2,-
900 square miles In this region are
found to be oleierous, and Of this vast
surface only six miles have as yet been
developed. The oil-bearing stratum
extends beneath the Caspian Sea, where
it crops up in Tchelikan, true isle of
oil. Here the oil literally streams into
the sea from hills and cliffs which may
be said to be formed of ozokerite-in
other words, of crude parafine.
On the eastern shore of the Caspian
it reappears at various points-as, for
instance, at the Neft or Naptha Hill
where the deposits are officially valued
at f35, 000,0O Then, again as Baku
lies at the eastern extremity of Che Cau-
casus range, SO at its western extremity
lies an oil field extending over about
$50 miles. 1t terminates in the PENN
sula of Taman. between the Black Sea
and Sea Of Azov, region Astounding
inactive mud-volcanoesa and occasionally
shaken by earthquakes.
Now the fre-giant, who tends the
great laboratory beneath the Caspian
seems disposed to emulate the example
Of his brethren in New Zealand and
Tonga. Hitherto he had been satisfied
with such sport as turning on such an
oil stream AZ that which gushod forth
three years ago from one Of the Baka
springs, spouting with such force as to
break to pieces 3-inch cast iron plate
which had been fastened over the well
in order to divert the few to different
direction A neighboring oil spring, on
being tapped, threw up a column of
petroleum to twice the height OF the
great Geyser in Iceland, forming a
huge black fountain 200 feet in height
q fountain. however. attributed solely to
tho removal OF the pressure on the con-
fined gas, as there is no percepfible
heat in these geysers.
Il was visible for many miles around;
and on the first day It poured forth
about $4,000 barrels, and, with gradu-
ally diminishing volume. continued to
play Tor five months, when it finally
subsidized, leaving its unfortunate owner
Can american company well nigh ruined
BY the claims brought against it by
neighbors whose lands were destroyed
by the oil flood. One house, which
stood near the spring, now lies buried
beneath sand hill, which alone marks
the site of this too prodigal fount.
Quite recently . still mightier naphtha
flow suddenly commanded Dlavino with